Kiko Purple Constellation 354 (possibly Constellation Purple...)

Na na na na na na. I've got this and you probably haven't!
Oops, sorry. I'll stop gloating now. That wasn't very nice... :o(

• Same polish. This isn't a duochrome as such but it is very different in different lighting.
• I paid more for this on ebay than you would in the shop. I believe it's only available in Westfield in the UK (London???). But it's definitely worth £8. I think Kiko is quite an inexpensive brand. Extraordinary.
• Formula excellent.
• Longevity excellent.
• Brush pretty good.
• Max Factor FF was made to layer over this!
• I have worn this 3 times in 6 weeks and that NEVER happens.
• It's way better IRL than my cruddy pix.

Gratuitous grand-daughter photo taken on 'phone

Baby wants to stroke cat. Cat scarpers. Wise feline.

Do you have any Kiko? I think it's a dupe for a Zoya polish but can't remember which one.

Jenni

No drama, just good stuff....Models Own Mystic Mauve

I spend too much time lusting after collections that are either too expensive or simply unavailable that I forget we have a great brand of our own here in the UK. I refer to Models Own.

Their foil polishes are simply magnificent and, thinking back, I have never had a bad Models Own. So there. Sorry, Models Own. I will try to appreciate you better.

Mystic Mauve. 2 coats. Foil. Would look better on younger (unridged) nails but I have what I have.
(That was easy...)

My left hand now sports short nails but I'm letting the nails on my right grow. They look OK.
Jenni

Attitude Asteroid

For some reason I have become addicted to funky-French manis! So this one has foil tips. Then a clear-based glitter coat over the top. My index nail is especially yellow but ... what can ya do?

This British brand is Star Nails Attitude. Apparently it's mostly available in salons. Don't think I've ever seen it however. I bought mine online (usual suspects) and they manufacture some funky colours and I do recommend their polishes. The bottles are 14ml (whoever said that size isn't important simply lied) and you can always get them for two or three quid. Result.

Jenni

Models Own Lili's Pink

Yuk. This colour is just awful on me. 2 coats. I'm the problem. Not the polish. I wore it 'as is' last night and all the women of my age were wearing plain pink nail polish. I felt so old. I'm not doing that again. So I tried to funk it up. Don't know which was worse. The original or the 'improvements'. Gloom. Gloom.

Just see where a hole punch and some sticky labels gets ya...

Upcoming will be some 2True polishes, Nubar Wildlife, Benefit Dr Feelgood and a trio of Models Own.

Your most shocking mani?

Jenni

Nox Twilight Wine & Dine

So I still had the Sugar Plum/Prism disaster on my nails but decided that Wine & Dine would be a sorta glittery topcoat that would even the whole mess out.

Wrong. Oh, and a big thanks to Deez Nailz for her comment on my last post. I am but a poor, humble follower and I will do a decent mani one day!

W & D turned out to be virtually opaque with 1 coat! But it was messy so I decided to go with that vibe and put some more Nox Sugar Plum over the top in a vaguely vampiric way. They do get awfully messy, those vampires. Such sloppy eaters.

And I don't dislike it. So here it is. Wine & Dine will be going to my daughter too as it's a foily thing similar to many I already possess. I really like it but I'm trying to be generous. So far I'm keeping Sugar Plum and have high hopes of Crush. Was looking for some Twilight-ish jewellery for her and I do have a silver Fair Trade bracelet I bought at a craft fair. What she really needs is cash rather than bits'n'pieces but I have to give her something a tad personal. So.....

Enough of my Christmas dilemmas.

Jenni

Models Own Green Flash

One of a bunch of foils I got. Some kind of sale price.

The teensiest weensiest bit brush-strokey. Hence the addition of CG Fairy Dust on nails 2, 3 and 4. Also you do have to load the brush a bit to avoid bald spots and dragging. Quite a nice colour and can easily be tarted up with (for example) Party Hearty.

In some lights it seems to suit me and in others it gives me lobster-claws. Overall I intend it to be a stayer as I don't fancy scrubbing it off any time soon.

Oo, I am expecting a haul. A secret haul! A brand I haven't had before. I am foolishly excited by this.

The clue is: 'Stage direction - someone can be heard at the door....'

Possibly too cryptic or indeed entirely incomprehensible.
Jenni

Models Own Champagne

Feeling in a 'gold' mood. Ironic as Champagne isn't exactly gold.

The ring nail has a layer of CND something for which I paid relatively dearly as I had no CND and wanted to rectify the omission.  It's quite nice under artificial light at night. That's as gushing as I'm going to get about it. The Models Own is a very good foil. 2 coats. Make sure you load the brush though or it's Streak City.

Tomorrow something positively ugly. Today is good. There is no bad. Unless tomorrow's effort can combine bad AND ugly. And it just may.

Awaiting 2 hauls. A BB Couture since I can never refuse a BB offer. 5 for the price of 3 to UK customers. And more Models Own. Bought a cracking (well, they look it in the photos) pair of boots on ebay.

Got to do some serious Christmas shopping in the next 2 days. Cash for the kids. They're always skint. Goodies for the OH. Fair Trade jewellery for colleagues. Warm trousers for my little grandson.

What kind of Christmas shopper/giver are you?
A smug did it in February really really cheaply
B lavish - flashy, expensive, ostentatious
C anxious - they will love this brooch, won't they - maybe they won't - but what do YOU think? - this one or maybe the other one? - oh, I'm not sure now
D make personalised crafty gifts from recycled ribbon and tin cans
E hey, that's what Christmas Eve is for - present-buying - chillax
F as E only with panic and hysteria

Jenni

Barielle Jess' Champagne Toast & Misa Shop till u drop

Ridiculous name.

The BOGOF on autumn/winter 2010 polishes. I would never pay £8 for these. Don't get me wrong, Barielle are British (I think) and they are good but not THAT good.

I read that this is a bit of a weed so I put a coat of a similar colour underneath and then 2 coats of this. It dries dull as it's a foil so top coat was a must. I always TC anyway though....

It's pretty and that's as far as it goes. Pretty underwhelming. Heck, it's only nail polish.

I need to post about something more profound - cars, fashion, TV. Something really deep and meaningful...ahem.

I hear they've isolated some anti-matter particles in Switzerland. Now that IS remarkable. Apparently. If I understood it and hadn't failed physics at the age of 13. What gets to me is this: the scientists try to explain by way of analogy/simile but even THAT makes no sense to me. Which makes me think that they don't understand it either. I wonder......

What leaves you cold?
Quantum theory?

Jenni

Nails Inc Kingly Street

You see a Nails Inc you like and I can GUARANTEE you they have withdrawn it from sale. Crazy company! I think I've only even seen this on sale once. It's probably out there under a host of different names. They seem to do that. You'll see a polish under a new name that uncannily resembles something you thought you recognised as something else.

2 coats. Could have used a 3rd. Rather glittery without containing glitter as such. Or such fine glitter that it doesn't quite become a bona fide glitter polish.

Kim at Overall Beauty (have to google it, people, as my links aren't working) has got a BB Couture offer until the 10th. I am trying to resist. Every day is going to be the day I call a halt to my buying. Every day (well, too many days) proves to be the occasion for a lapse from grace. Oh, dear....

Jenni

Quirius Frozen Tears

I really like foils. All foils. I obviously ordered this on the basis that I wanted/liked it but it turned out better than expected. Pretty. Pretty is good. But it deepens in colour rather remarkably depending upon the light levels. It's very pale violet at times but much more vivid at others.

See what I mean?

Same polish but good value in different lights. Just look at the bottle too.

I have 3 Quirius left to wear and planned to do them as a series but got seduced by OPI one day and Rimmel the next. So tomorrow will be Rimmel. Or maybe Eyeko. I just can't stick to a schedule. I simply have to tinker.

Do you plan your posts (if you blog) and adhere rigidly to your projected timetable or are you very flighty and changeable like me? Do you try lots of different outfits on before you settle on something or do you just dress'n'go?

Jenni

Quirius Black Coal

You look at this in the bottle and think, "Pleasant silver foil but black coal? Not so much..."

But it does manage to capture a dark quality on the nail. 2 coats. Or was it 3? Let's say 2.5.

It was worth $3 of your earth money. Not such a simple silver.  Actually it was 6 for $15 so even less than that. And when you consider the extra gift polish....Not that I'm counting or anything!

Nail polish is a bit of an indulgence. Do you keep track of your spending on this kind of thing or regard it (for you) as essential and therefore money-no-object?

Jenni

Orly Amethyst Decadence - February

1 very disappointing
2 looks better in the pix than I am finding it IRL

Sunlight. Garden.

3 coats but needs more. Looks very wishy-washy.
Had the weirdest consistency EVER. Thin but not runny. And dry! How is that possible?
Doesn't adhere to the tips well.
Comes over as old-lady pinkish tbh.

Inside. It's just feeble. Promising in the bottle but  all "fur coat and no knickers" on the nail. Boo.

So let's go for something far more ballsy.

From 1950. Big hat. Bling. A small stuffed bird. Hypo-allergenic. 

How often do YOU sport the classic red lips'n'nails combo?

Jenni

Sally Hansen Crystal Dream + DotD

This is a Foot Foil.
My toes need doing but it's quite a struggle for a lardy old bird like me so....

Not feet. I wouldn't do that to you.
I assume this is an ancient polish from the vaults.
I rather like Sally Hansen.
I don't know how you'd characterise this colour so I shan't go there.
But if you pressed me I'd say pewter-ish.
2 coats + top coat. I am so anti-colour at the moment. The other hand is silver - my trusted Misa Dance Fever without which I would not be.

I haven't retouched the red eye on him because he's naturally fairly feral so I feel this is true to his temperament.
He's a feisty ginger if ever there was one!
Trod on his tail by mistake yesterday but he didn't get me. Luckily. He can be a doll so I won't diss him too much.

Pic I googled....
This represents me today.
End of year.
Loads of students leaving. Tears. Colleagues leaving. More tears. Frantic tidying. General exhaustion.
I'm not comfortable with all this angst and it's quite awkward being around it. These days people expect a lot of emoting and demonstrative display. I just want to get the hell out of there. But then I know enough to realise I've got some strongly autistic traits myself!

I can be a hermit for a few weeks now. Hurrah!
Get my polishes together.

I've decided I WILL do a blog sale. So watch out for that next week. Anything you guys don't want will go on ebay. It'll be paypal probably. I expect that's easiest.

Oh, not asking for sympathy because I love my job and zonking out in July is just part of the (excellent) deal.

Got a new car to look forward to. Saw a protoptype at the showroom last night and put it on order.

Hate it? It's a Nissan Juke. Like it? So-so?

Jenni

Models Own Blue Moon + Dusty Mauve

Ingredients
See above
Boots expert  nail ridge filler
Misa Breakneck
Use of Mac iPhoto to edit major imperfections

Method
1 Apply ridge filler
2 Apply 1st coat of polish
3 Apply 2nd coat
4 Apply further coat (if necessary according to taste)
5 Wait 5 minutes before applying topcoat
6 Evaluate

Evaluation
Very pretty. Moon is a blue foil. Not unique but easy to apply and a typical foil
Mauve -  on the nail a soft grey but in the bottle more complex (see below)

Extension activity (sorry, I've lapsed into teacher-ese)
Very pretty but I messed up with a coupla dents'n'dings so the ol' Fairy Dust had to come to the rescue.

Voila. My most-used and rapidly thickening polish.
I am far too tight to buy a bottle of Seche Restore and I know not to thin it  (attempt to anyway) with remover so have you any budget tips for me, please?

Or I shall be very sad.......
I don't want my Fairy Dust to die! Help my Fairy Dust to live, I beg you!

Tatty bye
Jenni

Models Own haul - gang of 5

Less than 48 hours
Free P&P
You'd better hope Eng-er-land beat Germany on Sunday if you want 20% off a little bundle of beauties under the Models Own "Surely that sorry bunch'll never win anything so we can offer loads of discounts to punters safe in the knowledge that we won't have to make good on our promise" WE SUPPORT ENGLAND campaign.

Cr@ppy pic of:
Dusty Mauve
Nude Beige
Pink Lady
Champagne
Blue Moon

These look way better IRL.
I'm going to pick 2 now to do a mani with but won't post until tomorrow.
Short of time today, I fear.

KarenD of Frazzle and Aniploish (http://thekarend.blogspot.com/) me with one of these - for which I thank her.

I have to nominate 5 others and I'm going to devote some time to that before launching in. I also have to write about 5 other things but more of that anon.


OK, I can't leave you without a pic so for a LAUGH (a LAUGH) I am posting my beyond-feeble isn't-this-the-lamest-nailart-ever photo of my cherry blossom effort from February (?).

Actually that blue looks OK but the alleged flower (!) is beyond words cruddy.
Just shows I have more confidence now. I had about 2 followers when I did this and didn't dare expose it to public view but ........well, it's in the public domain. Oh, and the cuticles and.......

Bet Karen wouldn't have tagged me if she'd seen THAT!

Vow to self - must do better.

Onwards and upwards
Jenni-fur

A cautionary tale - no, 2 cautionary tales!

1 Easy. Use basecoat before you apply Jessica Aqua Tint or you will get smurf-paws like this... Ta da!

See those cuticles! I have had pumice stone all over these fingers. I was 50 kinds of fool not to use basecoat under a blue. (This looks slightly washed-out in the sun. My cuticles are much worse IRL.)
This is part of universal nail-lore. Blues stain. Yellows streak.

What's on my nails today?

This is cautionary tale 2 btw.

CT 2
I check ebay for OPI bargains. The one on the left was sold as an unnamed OPI. Caveat emptor. Look at the pic, buy it if you like it. Fine. Nowt exciting but..fine.

The one on the right was described as Overexposed in South Beach. The pic wasn't great. Hey, it was described....(Yeah, I did that bit). Now that's a polish I wanted. £5.99. Ting! Thank you.

It duly arrives. I tear open the parcel to be confronted by....all I know is this. It ain't OE in SB. I negotiated a partial refund from the seller because I couldn't be @rsed to go through the faff of returning it. It's a pink foil of no particular distinction whatever. It's functional for days when I just can't decide. They said that the labels had been mixed up. It came with a label saying: Not So Berry Daring. It isn't that particular baby either! I don't mind them guessing at an attribution if they make it clear that there is a degree of doubt. I got a fair deal for an average polish so it's OK. It was meant to be love but it's just the nice lady I talk to at the supermarket - pleasant but not earth-shattering.

The accent nail?

It has to be slightly blurry to pick up the fleck in the jelly. It's over the lighter unnamed OPI. It is???

Who said BB Couture Napa Valley Red? All of you? Good.

My daughter's dog is moulting like a moulty-thing and I am getting white dog hairs all over my nails. I must be inhaling its hair because it's everywhere and on everything.

Jenni

PINK and GREEN should ALWAYS be seen - BB Couture

Love Drunk and Studio 54 - perfect partners - not just a quick night-club fumble - a potential long-term partnership based on equality and a common background...

See them together! The green is showing a little too light. A leee-ttle, leeeeeee-ttle bit. And you can mish-mash the brush and swish-swash it and spruce it up and slop it all around. Brilliant for cack-handed me.

Managed to take this under halogen lights and it does show the glitter better.

I had one colour on the LH and one on the RH but they feel so right together.

The pink is day 3 and the green is fresh on - 2 coats.

I'm continuing my experiment on the other hand.

What experiment? Neither base nor top coat. And the Studio 54 in these shots is freshly applied w/out BC and TC. 

I wanted to have a shot taken in full sun but I'm too impatient to wait.

Studio 54 is my official new BEST GREEN EVER!

Everything darker than this is going up for swap-city. There's no point in them. No point, I tell you!

Love Drunk is a candidate for TOP PINK. And I've 3 untried BBs at my left hand!

The photos are 7 sorts of sh!te compared to the real thing, I swear it.

Can Jenson or Lewis beat the Red Bulls??? 

Feminism, Fools and BB Couture...

BB Couture Studio 54

2 coats.

Fools? What fool is this? The fool may be I. Wherefore?

No base and no top coats on this. BB reckon this is a 4 in 1 product and you don't need the afore-mentioned. I don't know about you but I don't think it's possible to get any decent wear without BC and TC. I am about to put BB to the test.  So, will I turn out to be a fool, duped by a sales claim? We'll see. I'll TC it later as I do like me a bit of gloss and it dries a tad matte but (d'you know it's growing on me as I type) I might just persevere with it ungarnished/unvarnished.

Nonetheless, whatever the outcome I shall still love BB Couture. The brush is beyond brilliant. I had no clean-up to do with this.

Looks a little dark as this kind of green is wont to do in different condition. Still a valid pic though.

BB Couture? As this is the 3rd consecutive BB I have sported perhaps I should declare a BB week? I can always change my mind...And it gives me the opportunity (again) to harp on about how fab they are and reiterate my devotion to Kim from Overall Beauty for her exceptional customer service.

Bringing me finally to feminism.


I started this because I wanted to feature polishes it was easy to purchase in the UK - better still British-made (ha!).

BB is from California. So, it should not (theoretically) be on my radar.
However, it IS easy to obtain - courtesy of Kim.

The feminist bit? Kim runs her own business and BB is a small mother-daughter operation. OPI et al are great products but I'd rather put my business Kim's way because she has the personal touch and I feel I might just be supporting women in work they love. The colours and formulae aren't the tired-old-lazy-old-what-everyone-else-is-doing-this-season and I just love them.

Do you know of any small-time manufacturers of anything? Women? British women even?

Happy days to all
Jenni

BB Couture - Love Drunk - pink - I LOVE this with a very great and passionate love...

So I got my 5 for the price of 4 from Kim at Overall Beauty plus a mineral eyeshadow and 2 nail wheels as my gifts! How much do I love Kim!

And I got them out (got them out? You know how it is - tore the box to pieces like a wild beast...) and was aghast. What have I done? Why did I buy that hideous pink? It will be awful!!!

But....

I know nothing, Mr Fawlty!

2 coats, slap it on, done.  Oo, I love foils! I might add a 3rd for the hell of it. In the sun you could beam messages into space with the light bouncing off this beauty. You could store enough energy to power a small town. Holy hotness!

Sorry about the smudge but I have to photoshop my ring finger (vilely gruesome wart) and it doesn't always work so well. 

Sort of taken in oncoming shade. Sun going behind a cloud. This makes it look pink. It IS pink. The 3rd pic (this) is the most representative. I googled this before I ordered it and it isn't a polish that's much blogged about. Not one of the iconic BB Coutures like...well, some others.

Phew *mops brow* this is one of those I'm-sorry-what-did-you-say-can-you-repeat-that-as-I-was-looking-at-my-nails polishes!

Leave a comment if you like and answer the questions up top to enter the giveaway. There's plenty of time left anyway. 

Plans for the weekend? Off to the jolly seaside?

Jenni

Star Nails Attitudes - Asteroid pink foil

Another inexpensive British polish - and it's great!

2 coats - next pic has 3 coats but is over-exposed (dammit)

This is a frustrating polish to snap
It's slightly warmer IRL
Goes on easy-peasy (that's not an adverb in that form but forgive me)
I don't have Orly Rage or any of that range and I'm not claiming that this is like it except insofar as in being a pink foil but this is a quality product

Lots of pix because I was attempting to show it at its best

I like it because it's easy to apply/long-lasting/fairly easy to remove/enjoyable in different lights and conditions/complements the grey creme on my LH today/is British/is good value/is a bit different because the world and his wife doesn't have it

There are no downsides to this except its reluctance to take a good photo (rather like myself! yeah, right!)

HAGD

Jenni